Apparatus for forming mineral wool



June 29, 1954 c. D. RICHARDSON APPARATUS FOR FORMING MINERAL WOOLOriginal Filed July 19,

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

June 29, 1954 c. D. RICHARDSON 8 79 APPARATUS FOR FORMING MINERAL WOOLOriginal Filed July 19, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENT OR. Cflfiz wkrason Patented June 29 1954 APPARATUS EGRiFORMING MINERAL WOOL.TCha'rles. .D. .Richardson, Anna, ..Ill.,;.assignr tofCha'rles"Rii:hardson (lorporatiomTMuncie; Ind.

Original application July 19, 1951,Serial No. :.237.,508. Dividedzandthis; application March 2,6; 1952;:Serial-No.- 278,679

2 Claims. 1

This -inventionrelates tom-the conversion of molten slag intomineralwoolaand is similar in .some respectsto-the. invention disclosed. in myprior=,.U. S. application, Serial No. 215,463, filed :March. 14 1951,-and isa. division of my. coperiding tapplication filed July= .19,v1951,.Serial No, 237,508. Asin this. .prior. .a1: plication,.v the .termmineral wooll is used generally .to cover, slag, rock, glass, .Orsimilarmaterialswhichlhave been. melted to -form...a. molten slag .and .thenfiberized.

.In the ..above-.identified application, Serial. No. 215,463,. anapparatus is disclosed. which disintegrateslanstream ofemoltenhslag. bymeans of a .peripherallychanneled beater. wheel. This wheel .dischargesaspray.of.the..'disinteg11ated slag in substantially atangentialdirection,and the spray .is .fiberized.by. .subjecting.it toa'high velocity .env'eloping, jet of.v steam. or hotflair. While this-amaaratus .is. unusually .e'fiicient for rapidly producing. an.excellent gradeof mineral wool, 'the present invention is.designe'd' toprovide animprovd apparatus arid. method. capable of producing evengreater. tonnageper' .hour without in anymanner impairing the quality.offthe product.

ilncarrying. out the above end, a further object is to provide a highspeed rotary cylinder into "which the. moltenislag is'fed fordisintegration prior tofiberizing, said rotary cylinder having greatercapacity than a beater wheel for disintegrating the molten slagand'discharging a spray thereof.

"Anotherobject ofjthe invention is to associate the slag-disintegratingcylinder in a novel manner with means for directing a high velocity jetof steam or hot air around and in contact with the spray ofdisintegrated slag issuing from said cylinder. "'Tliis'jet not onlye'fiectively'fiberizes the spray, but confines the latter against being.centrifugally thrown to any hazardous extent.

Yet another object is to rotatably mount the slag..-disintegratingcylinder in a novel manner which permits'it to be quickly and easilyremoved and allows another cylinder to be substituted wranequaldispatch, "whenever required.

A still further'object-is taprovide an unusually simplevyet. highlyefficient apparatus which may be expeditiously manufactured andprofitably marketed at a reasonable price.

Witlrthe foregoing and other objects in view that willrbecome apparentasthe natureLof' the zinventionsis better understood-the samecon- :sistsin the novel subject matternhereinafter; described and? claimed,and-shown. in the'accomapanyingldrawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l is aside elevatiompartly broken away and inisection, showinglthewimproved apparatus,

Figu-re 2=isa front elevationg and Figure .3 a fragmentary verticalsectional view. on:line 33 of-Figure 2.

A preferred .form -.oi construction has ubeen shown and while thisconstruction will. be rather specificallydescribed; it is to beunderstoodthat variations .may. be..made-..within the-scope. ofetheinvention as claimed.

-A slag melting furnace is. indicated.,..at:=5,:.1and maysbe of. anysuitable form. It mayo-beacon- .sideredas of cupola.typeandprovidedwithaan adjustable discharge. spout- 6..-for anstreamaof.molten slag l.

.A rotary power-driven slagedisintegrating :cyl-

in'derB is positioned to receive the slag-stream i. Thiscylindercentrifugally converts the molten slag into minute .partiallyfiberized .fiuid particles which issue fromthe. frontend ofasaidcylinder in the. formof asleeve-like spray 9. A circular steam or hotair nozzle lfl-surroundsthe .front end .of the. cylinder =8. andfor.wardly ..pro-

jects a sleeve-like high velocity. fiberizingjet H around the spray.@,thereby confining theilatter against being centrifugally. thrown. to ahazardous extent. The jet ll enveloping the. sleevelike spray.9,.strikes andacceleratesathis.spray and completesconversion of "thelatter into fibres, which fibresenter a chamber. it. This .chamher is,provided with a bottom. in the. form ofna conveyor [3 upon which thefibres-felt ior .mat .andby which they are carried from the chamber "formanufacture into batsor other mineral. wool products.

The cylinderffi, a driving ..motor'l4. for-said cylinder, and the nozzleIii, are. mounted on..a stand it. This-stand includes a top plate l8"from which two front posts H and two. rear posts ll project upwardly,said posts .having bearings I 3 and Hi for thefltrunnionsf l9 ofv twolower rollers .Zl') which rotatably support the cylinder 3, saidcylinder having-peripheral flanges Lil at the ends of said rollers12l toholdTthecylinder against endwise movement. ..'Front and rear linksffi.and 22 are pivotallyt suppo'rte'dlby the trunnions I 9 andextendupwardlytherefrom atthe sides. ofjthe cylinderiil. "The llpperends .of.these .links ..are provided .with bearings F23 -andld for the.trunnionsiilof two upper rollers .25. The upper ends or" the two.front.links-22 .are connected. by atensionspringit, .andacorrespondingspringltconnectsthe upper ends .of'the two rear links 2%. .These: springs .holdtherollers 25 inwardly against the cylinder}, said ro1lers'25 thereforecoa'cting with the lower r'ollers2ll' inmounting. the. cylinder forvsmooth rotation. The springsfifi" and '26, ,""however,'-are detachablyconnected atone endas 'indicate'd at 21*- in-Figure 2 and whenheredetachdjthey allow-thei linksi 22 and 22 -to outwardly swing.

Thus, the upper rollers 25 move away from the cylinder 8, leaving thelatter free to be lifted out and replaced with another. After thereplacement, the links 22 and 22 are again swung inwardly and thesprings 26 and 26 are again connected. The cylinder driving motor I4 isgeared at 28 to one of the lower roller trunnions l9 and thus thecylinder driving means is not disturbed when changing cylinder.

The axes of the rollers 20 and 25 are forwardly declined somewhat tosupport the cylinder 8 in a forwardly declined position, thus feedingthe molten slag forwardly in said cylinder while it is beingdisintegrated. The period of time during which the slag remains in thecylinder, determines the diameter of the fibres produced by theapparatus; and said period may be varied by varying the point at whichthe slag stream 1 is discharged into said cylinder. When dischargedabout as shown in Figure 1, the slag will remain in the cylinder for themaximum period. The period of slag dwell in the cylinder may be reducedby discharging the stream 1 farther toward the front end of thecylinder, and this may be effected by substituting a longer chute 6.

Both ends of the cylinder 8 are open and the rear end of said cylinderis preferably flanged inwardly at 29 to prevent any back throw of themolten slag. The flange may well be of frustoconical form and will thusforwardly direct any fluid slag particles which may be centrifugallythrown against it.

The circular nozzle is pivotally mounted at 30 in a U-shaped yoke 3|,said yoke being secured to the upper end of a standard 32. This standardis adjustably secured at 33 to a slide 34, said slide being mounted on atrack bar 36 secured to the stand IS. A hand screw 35 and nut 31 areshown for forwardly and rearwardly adjusting the slide 34, therebysimilarly adjusting the nozzle I0 to attain the most advantageoussetting.

An adjusting rod 38 is pivoted at 39 to the nozzle W for pivotallyadjusting this nozzle to the most effective position, and suitable means40 is provided for adjustably connecting said rod 38 with the stand l5.

For conducting steam or hot air to the nozzle ID, a valved line 4| isprovided, including a length of hose 42. and communicates with acontinuous chamber 43 of the latter as in Figure 3. A continuous narrowslit 44 is provided from the chamber 43 to the front side of the nozzleto discharge the high velocity jet H of steam or hot air. For mostslags, a radial width of about forty thousandths of an inch issufficient for the slit 44.

An excellent fibre can be formed when using a cylinder 8 of 6" internaldiameter and long driven at 1,000 R. P. M. However, the invention is notrestricted to any particular cylinder dimensions or speed of rotation.The rotating cylinder centrifugally disintegrates the molten slag intominute partly fiberized fluid particles which discharge forwardly fromsaid cylinder in the form of the sleeve-like spray 9. This spray isconfined, struck and accelerated by the high velocity, forwardlydirected sleeve-like jet ll of steam or hot air, and complete conversionof the spray to fibres is thus effected. These fibres enter the chamberl2 and felt or mat upon the conveyor l3 which carries them off formanufacture into bats or other mineral wool products.

Whenever it is necessary to remove one cylinder and substitute another,this may be quickly and This line connects with the nozzle easilyaccomplished by disconnecting the springs 2626 and swinging the links22--22" and rollers 25 outwardly. The cylinder may then be lifted fromthe rollers 20, and the replacement laid upon said rollers 20. I'helinks 22-42"- and the rollers 25 are then returned to their normalpositions and the springs 26-46 are re-connected again, placing theapparatus in condition for use.

From the foregoing it will be seen that novel and advantageous provisionhas been made for attaining the desired ends, and while there is hereinshown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it isnevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A mineral wool producing apparatus comprising a slag-receivingcylinder having an open front end for forwardly discharging asleeve-like spray of disintegrated and partly fiberized slag, meansrotatably mounting said cylinder, said mounting means comprising rollersspaced around the periphery of said cylinder and contacting with thelatter, and mounting means for said rollers, including means mountingsome of said rollers for outward movement from said cylinder, detachablyconnected spring means normally preventing said outward movement, meansfor driving said cylinder, and nozzle means associated with the frontend of said cylinder for directing a fluid jet against said spray tofurther fiberize the same.

2. In a mineral wool producing apparatus, a support, two front laterallyspaced posts rising from said support and having bearings at their upperends, two rear posts rising from said support behind said front posts,said rear posts having bearings alined with those of said front posts,two lower rollers between said front posts and said rear posts, saidrollers having trunnions engaging the bearings of said front and rearposts, a slag disintegrating cylinder resting on said two lower rollers,two upper rollers engaging said cylinder and normally holding it uponsaid lower rollers, right and left links carrying said upper rollers,said links being pivotally mounted at their lower ends to allow outwardmovement of said upper rollers when said cylinder is to be removed,detachably connected springs connecting said right and left links andnormally preventing outward movement of said links, a circular fluiddischarge nozzle surrounding the front end of said cylinder, a U-shapedyoke in which said nozzle is mounted for tilting adjustment, a standardcarrying said yoke, slide means mounting said standard on said supportfor forward and rearward adjustment, means for normally holding saidnozzle in adjusted position with respect to said yoke, and means fornormally holding said slide means in adjusted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 883,770 Wood Apr. 7, 1908 1,527,729 Dunajeff Feb. 24, 19251,558,067 Watson Oct. 20, 1925 2,497,369 Peyches Feb. 14, 1950 2,646,593Downey July 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 571,807 GermanyFeb. 16, 1933

